When finding a car to modify most people immediately think Honda. The Honda Accord and Civic have been the top choice among tuners for many years because of Honda’s legendary reliability along with the many bolt on parts available.

But if I were in the market for a cheap and reliable car to mod I would choose among the following three cars:

Nissan 240SX

The Nissan 240SX never achieved the sports car status it deserved mainly because its powered by a 4 cylinder engine that’s as powerful as a Toyota Camry.

But these cars aren’t known for the power but rather the performance. These are one of the most popular cars for drifting. The rear wheel drive and lightweight chassis makes this car ideal for drifting.

If you happen to live on the beautiful island of Oahu there’s a nice Honda Civic for sale near you. This particular car is tastefully modded and not overdone like many Hondas I see on the road today.

Though a base model Civic came with only 92 hp from the factory, the car only weighs a tad over 2000 lbs. That means it’s actually lighter than a Mazda Miata.

Way back in 1991 my cousin bought a brand new Honda Civic DX Hatchback with a manual transmission. Though it was all stock the car had plenty of pep and was quite nimble through the curves. I was pleasantly surprised how civilized the car behaved on the open highway.

If you’re middle class and middle aged and have a lot of financial obligations then here’s a chance to own a classic for not a lot of money.

The Porsche 944 never enjoyed the success like its big brother the Porsche 911. The 2.5L 4-cylinder engine produced a meager 150 hp which means it was never a fast car. It wasn’t much of a driver’s car either with performance being on par with that of a Volkswagen.

But all that doesn’t matter because it’s still a Porsche.

Here’s a chance to own your very own sports car for the same amount of money as a car down payment. It’s a 1983 Porsche 944 for only $4000 and it’s currently for sale on Craigslist.

Here is a 2000 Honda CRV LX with manual transmission and low miles. It’s currently for sale on eBay. Though the asking price of $6500 is a bit high, a Honda CRV equipped with manual transmission is a very rare find.

What I particularly like about this car is the manual transmission and cleanliness of the body. It looks like it just rolled off the assembly line.

The owner changed the timing belt which is a big plus in my book. I know many people that do not know the importance of changing the timing belt.

Because this is an LX model it comes with the steel wheels and not the stylish alloy wheels found on the EX model. But other than that I can’t find much fault with this car.